Metro North West line
: This page refers to stage 1 of Sydney Metro. For other uses of '''Metro' see: Metro (disambiguation).'' Metro North West Line is a railway line operated by Sydney Metro in Sydney, from Chatswood to Tallawong. It is the first operational rapid transit line in the entirety of Australia, and began services on 26th May 2019. https://transportnsw.info/travel-info/ways-to-get-around/sydney-metro-opening-26-may It is currently the only Metro line in Sydney until 2024, when the Sydney Metro City & Southwest line is projected to open. The line runs from Chatswood, an already built heavy rail station and Tallawong, a newly built station. The line will consist of 13 stations, including 8 new stations (Cherrybrook, Castle Hill, Hills Showground, Norwest, Bella Vista, Kellyville, Rouse Hill and Tallawong). To make way for the new line, a new timetable was put in place that commenced from 28th April 2019. The timetable saw the existing Sydney Trains T1 Northern Line renumbered as the T9 Northern Linehttps://transportnsw.info/service-adjustments-2019. The line will be serviced by 6-carriage driverless single-deck Alstom Metropolis sets. The Metro North West Line is indicated by the icon on the Sydney Trains network map and at stations. History Planning for Sydney Metro Northwest, previously known as the North West Rail Link was a long and complicated affair. The was originally announced, then cancelled several times in the 1990's. There were also differing plans as to how the line would integrate into the rest of the network. Proposals for the line by the NSW Government over the years included connection to Beecroft on the existing Northern Line with City services running via Rhodes or by the Epping-Chatswood Rail Link, a main heavy rail line connecting to the Epping-Chatswood Rail Link, a rapid transit line from the northwest region to the city via the Inner West, and the ultimately chosen plan of a rapid transit line connecting to the ECRL which would be modified in order to run the fully automated trains. By June 2015, media releases from Transport for NSW dubbed the line as the "North West Rail Link" to address the line from Rouse Hill to Chatswood. On 4th June 2015, the then Premier of New South Wales, Mike Baird, and Minister for Transport, Andrew Constance announced the line's renaming from Sydney Rapid Transit to the current name of Sydney Metro. In conjunction with the renaming, the North West Rail Link was subsequently rebranded as Sydney Metro Northwest, which will run from 8 new stations, along the modified ECRL to Chatswood. In 2024, the line will extend from Chatswood to a further 6 new stations (Crows Nest, Victoria Cross, Barangaroo, Martin Place, Pitt Street, Central and Waterloo) before continuing to Bankstown via the existing Bankstown Line corridor between Sydenham and Bankstown, which will be converted and modified to accommodate the new system. The ECRL line from Epping to Chatswood ceased operation of existing Sydney Trains services on 30th September 2018, after the final service run by Tangara T sets T53 and T74. Until the opening of Sydney Metro Northwest, passengers from Chatswood, North Ryde, Macquarie Park, Macquarie University and Epping were being serviced by Station Link, a feeder bus service jointly operated by Transdev and Hillsbus. On 28th April 2019, in order to accommodate the opening of Sydney Metro Northwest, new timetables for the Western Line were introduced, renumbering of the Northern Line to T9, extra North Shore Line services to be on par with Metro service frequency, and alterations to some Metrobus bus routes to drop the M prefix from route numbers to avoid confusion with the Metro’s own “M” designation. The tunnels of the North West Line were dug by four tunnel boring machines. The tunnels from Epping to Cherrybrook were dug by TBMs "Marie" (named after Marie Lock, a 19th century Aboriginal rights advocate) and "Isabelle" (named after Isabelle Andersen, a four-year-old girl who represented the families of the tunnel workers). The tunnels from Cherrybrook to Bella Vista (consisting of Castle Hill, Hills Showground and Norwest underground stations) were dug by the other two TBMs, "Elizabeth" (named after colonial pioneer Elizabeth Rouse) and "Florence" (named after Florence Taylor, Australia's first female architect). The first of Sydney Metro's driverless Alstom Metropolis sets completed their full run from Tallawong to Chatswood on 14th January 2019. A week out from the line’s opening, The Daily Telegraph held a competition where the winners were given a chance to ride on the Sydney Metro for the first time, on a non-stop ride from Chatswood to Tallawong. Another preview ride was offered to the descended family of Sir John Bradfield. On the first day of service, services on the Metro North West Line were being run for free. It has now been reported that the line has now serviced as many as over 1 million passengers and an average of 72,000 passengers serviced every day within the first two weeks of operation, with both Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Minister for Transport Andrew Constance declaring Sydney Metro as a huge initial success. The line has mostly been a huge hit with many residents of the Hills District, which covers a majority of the 8 new stations, most of whom had to rely entirely on buses prior to the Metro North West Line’s opening. Despite being a hit with the Hills District residents, tourists, other Sydney commuters and train enthusiasts, the line has not been without issues. Within the first few days of service, the Metropolis sets have suffered from overshooting platforms, doors failing to open, families and groups getting separated due to platform screen doors closing unexpectedly, mechanical failures causing buses to supplement affected stations, and one passenger accidentally getting carried away to the stabling yard west of Tallawong station. Route The Metro North West Line runs from Chatswood to Epping, along the former Epping-Chatswood Rail Link, before continuing to 8 new Metro-exclusive stations - Cherrybrook, Castle Hill, Hills Showground, Norwest, Bella Vista, Kellyville, Rouse Hill and Tallawong. The twin tunnels running from Epping to Bella Vista are currently the longest rail tunnels in Sydney, as well as the deepest, being placed 67m below street level. These tunnels are much deeper than the floor of Sydney Harbour, as well as the City Circle tunnels at St James station. The Sydney Metro train stabling yard will be located at Tallawong Road in Rouse Hill, near Tallawong station. The new stations on the Metro Northwest route will have 3,000 parking spaces across multiple carparks. Kiss and ride spaces, and bicycle parking spots will also be provided near the stations. All stations on the Sydney Metro network qualify for Easy Access, with wheelchair accessible lifts available at every station. This makes Metro North West the first line on the expanded Sydney rail network to have wheelchair accessibility at every station. Services on the Metro North West Line are scheduled to run every 5 minutes during the peak, and every 10 minutes outside of the peak. The Metro North West Line will be jointly operated by MTR Corporation, John Holland and UGL Rail. In the first six months of operations, the metro service will also be supplemented by a late night bus service known as the North West Night Bus network, stopping at 13 bus stops within close proximity to the Metro North West stations. The bus service operates Sunday to Wednesday nights after about 9.30 pm in both directions, charging metro fares and frequency of every 10 minutes. This is because during this period, the last metro services on these nights are 10.05 pm from Chatswood and 9.25 pm from Tallawong. The bus service is temporary and will be withdrawn on 5th November 2019, when the metro reaches full operations. The bus service is jointly operated by Transdev NSW and Hillsbus, both of whom previously jointly operated the Station Link services from Epping to Chatswood between September 2018 and May 2019. Stations |} References Gallery Stations MetroTallawongStation.jpg|Tallawong MetroRouseHillStation.jpg|Rouse Hill MetroKellyvilleStation.jpg|Kellyville MetroBellaVistaStation.jpg|Bella Vista MetroNorwestStation.jpg|Norwest MetroHillsShowgroundStation.jpg|Hills Showground MetroCastleHillStation.jpg|Castle Hill MetroCherrybrookStation.jpg|Cherrybrook Epping_Railway_Station_3.jpg|Epping MetroMacquarieUniStation.jpg|Macquarie University MetroMacquarieParkStation.jpg|Macquarie Park MetroNorthRydeStation.jpg|North Ryde ChatswoodStation.jpg|Chatswood Other Metronorthwest.png|Metro North West Route Sydney-metro-north-westLogo.png|Sydney Metro Northwest Logo MetroNorthWestLine.png|Metro North West Line diagram with stations Trivia * During the construction process and on Sydney Trains network maps before it was renamed, Tallawong station was referred to as "Cudgegong Road", due to the station's location near Cudgegong Road at Rouse Hill. Tallawong's name comes from Tallawong Road, which is also near the station. This is also shown with Tallawong having CUD as the station code, likely as a nod to the old name. Another possibility for the renaming of the station is due to Tallawong Road being the location of the Metro stabling yards and control centre, as the hub of the Sydney Metro network. * The leaf-shaped structures holding up the giant glass canopies placed above Cherrybrook, Castle Hill, Hills Showground, Norwest, Bella Vista and Tallawong stations are based on bluegum leaves. Bella Vista also has a second canopy. Station Guides (PDF) * Tallawong * Rouse Hill * Kellyville * Bella Vista * Norwest * Hills Showground * Castle Hill * Cherrybrook * Epping * Macquarie University * Macquarie Park * North Ryde * Chatswood External Links * https://www.sydneymetro.info/map/sydney-metro-interactive-train-map * https://transportnsw.info/travel-info/ways-to-get-around/metro Category:Railway Lines Category:Sydney Metro Category:Sydney Metro Lines Category:City of Blacktown Category:The Hills Shire Category:Hornsby Shire Category:City of Parramatta Category:City of Ryde Category:City of Willoughby